Read John 10:7-10 focus on verse 9
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
We learned earlier this week that the sheep pen would have only had one legitimate entrance – the gate. The protection and the care – the very lives of the sheep were dependent on the sheep coming and going through this singular opening guarded by the shepherd. In today’s focus verse, Jesus makes it clear that just as there was only one way for the sheep to receive the protection they needed – there is only one way for us to receive the redemption we need. And that way is Jesus.
Belief and reliance on what Jesus did on the cross – as a sacrifice for us, to restore the brokenness of our relationship with Him is the only way. We can’t be good enough. We can’t do all the right things. We can’t be kind enough. No other person can offer us that assurance. It is only through Jesus that salvation can be ours.
God, We thank you for the love you have shown for us through Jesus. The depth of your selfless display of that love is hard to wrap our heads around sometimes. As humans we don’t have the capacity to love quite like that. We look for alternate ways to fix what we have broken. We look to ourselves, to other people, we thrust ourselves into work or even serving, but all those things come up short. Only You provide the path to repair what we are unable to restore ourselves. Thank you for your redeeming love that paves the way. Amen.
